09.12.03

4 p.m. CDT Friday, Sept. 12, 2003
Expedition 7 CrewSTATUS REPORT: ISS03-46

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT #03-46

The unloading of nearly three tons of new supplies from a Progress 
cargo vehicle began in earnest this week aboard the International 
Space Station. Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science 
Officer Ed Lu spent time each day unpacking, cataloging and stowing 
the equipment. 

The ISS Progress 12 (12P) vehicle brought food, fuel and equipment to 
the Station Aug. 30,U.S. time. This week, the thrusters on 12P were 
successfully tested and can be used to increase the Station's 
altitude when necessary. Also, nitrogen from the cargo vehicle's gas 
tanks was used to add pressure to the atmosphere inside the Station, 
while oxygen repressurization from 12P will occur later. 

Among the new supplies were two canisters for the Resistive Exercise 
Device weightlifting machine, which Lu installed Friday. 
Coincidentally, Lu had trouble adjusting the resistance on one of the 
previous canisters Wednesday. He removed that set and will work to 
repair the problematic canister next week so that the new ones that 
arrived on Progress can be reserved for the next crew to live aboard 
the Station. 

Friday, flight controllers in Mission Control Houston worked on the 
communication link between the Space Station and control centers in 
Houston, Moscow and Huntsville, Ala. The crewmembers noticed they 
were barely able to hear voice calls from the capcoms, or spacecraft 
communicators, from each of the centers. The problem was narrowed 
down to equipment in Houston that relays the audio to the Station 
from all the control centers. Engineers will continue to troubleshoot 
the issue with the hardware. In the meantime, the audio link to the 
Station has been restored to normal levels by temporarily bypassing 
that specific piece of hardware. 

Information on the crew's continuing activities on the Space Station, 
future launch dates and Station sighting opportunities from anywhere 
on Earth is available at: 

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/ 

Details on Station science operations can be found on an Internet site 
administered by the Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall 
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., at: 

http://scipoc.msfc.nasa.gov/ 

The next ISS status report will be issued Sept. 19, or sooner if 
events warrant.

	
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